Methods for speaking preparation

Please remember that spoken words are different from the written words. In essays you appeal to the intellect of the reader; but in a speech you deal with the chemistry of feelings and emotions of individuals. You should arrange your ideas in the form of a talk to address an audience and not in the form of discussions or philosophizing as you would do on paper. Start your preparation at least a week in advance. Take three or four days for your preliminary work, one day for organizing the points and ideas, then a day or two for ironing out the rough spots. And most important of all, is trying your speech on your family members or anyone else willing to listen. Does the preparation of speech means getting together some faultless phrases written down or memorizing? Does it mean the assembling of a few casual thoughts that really convey very little meaning to you personally? No. Not, at all. The preparation of speech means, the assembling of your thoughts, your ideas, your convictions, your urges and your own personal views. You have them every day of your waking life. They even swarm through your dreams. Your whole existence has been filled with feelings and experiences, which are lying deep inside your subconscious mind as thick as a huge layer of stones in a riverbed. Preparation means thinking, brooding, recalling, selecting the ideas that appeal to you most, polishing them and working them into a pattern. It will be your own pattern. The best way to do this is to keep an envelope with the name of the subject or topic written on it. Leave this envelope in your office or home where you could reach it as and when you want. If you read an interesting report, news or story closely connected to your subject, remove this as a press clipping or jot down points and slip this into the envelope. Always keep a pocket book and note down the points that come to your mind at odd times. You can also have casual discussions with your friends and relatives on the subject or topic, to elucidate their views. Note down these points also. Keep on putting down all the ideas that come to your mind, thinking hard all the while. Please do not hurry this process. This is the most important mental transaction that will help you in delivering the final speech. This method will cause the mind to grow in real power, productive power. When you are confident that you have prepared enough material to cover the time allocated to you, open the envelope and bring out the contents and keep them in an order that you think is the best for the speech. Please remember the speech should have an introduction, a body and conclusion. When the time to face the audience comes, your first words will be introductory. How you will introduce your speech will largely depend on what its main contents are. The body of the speech should contain the main theme of your topic. This should be surrounded by narrations, stories, humor, personal experiences and if necessary, statistics. Collect far more material than you intend to use. Assemble a hundred thoughts and discard ninety. The way to develop a reserve power is to know far more than you can use. Always have a full reservoir of information. The conclusion of the speech is very important. If the first impressions are most striking, the last impressions are often the most lasting. Your first words may determine what kind of hearing your speech will get. But, your last words may decide how it will be remembered or acted upon by your listeners. Write down the entire speech. Read it slowly to time it. But do not memorize it. Do not memorize the words.